| Community Report |
La
Paloma 'The Dove'
La Paloma means 'The Dove' in Spanish... a very fitting name for this vehicle that brought its own branch of hope and peace to both caregiver and patient here on the PeaceHealth campus. In the years since the opening of the hospital in 1989, the PeaceHealth campus has seen tremendous growth and expansion. The dilemma of transporting 'people, paper, and product' across the increasing distances inspired P.T. Smith, a local hospital board member, to approach administration with a plan of action. A request was made to the Peace Harbor Auxiliary who graciously responded with the purchase of a golf cart in 1997.
Although the generous contribution of $3000 depleted all of the Auxiliary's funds that year, their foresight of the future value and worth of this project remains justified today as La Paloma's smiling volunteer drivers ferry ailing patients and maneuver urgent deliveries across the entire campus. Sister Monica Heeran, President of PeaceHealth, once accepted the invitation to ride and predicted that 'La Paloma will have a long and active life' here on our campus. She even made recommendations to other PeaceHealth hospitals to adopt similar projects. The original golf cart was used for a number of years and then a back up was purchased. The present vehicle is actually La Paloma #3, a new-and-improved version of the original that was purchased by the hospital a few years ago. Today this service is available rain or shine... 5 days a week... for the patients, families, and staff here at PHSR.
Ralph Nelson, the Operation Supervisor for La Paloma, reports that the daily workload had increased steadily over the years. In addition to the hospital and its two ancillary buildings, service is provided to the Orthopedic Clinic, the Primary Care Clinic, the Surgical Clinic, Home Health and Hospice, Western Lane Ambulance, and Spruce Point. Ralph and P.T. calculate that La Paloma currently travels approximately 2080 miles per year... for a grand total of about 18,920 miles since its first day of flight. To maintain the integrity of this service, Ralph trains all of the other volunteer drivers in the required areas of safety and patient confidentiality and administers the necessary examinations. This level of commitment and service from all of the La Paloma crew, as well as the inspiration and motivation of its founding members, vividly extends our promise of 'healing and compassionate care' outside the boundaries of this campus out into the community it serves.
"Dedicated to healing and compassionate care...... "